Let's Hear it for the Introverts

I just read Screening Out the Introverts by By William Pannapacker in The Chronicle of Higher Education and found this article refreshing. In a world where one can be famous simply for being famous, where statements such as "It's always the quiet ones" make those of us who tend to be more self-contained, introspective and yes, shy, feel even more like outsiders, it is nice to see someone take note and say not so fast. I took the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator several years ago and landed so far down the introverted scale one might wonder how I ever manage to leave the house. Yet I talk to my neighbors, I lead discussions at work, and I participate in class. The difference between myself and many around me is that I typically rehearse what I am about to say and am terrible at small-talk. I observe those around me, get a feel for the room, and react when I think I have something to add. Introvert is not a four letter word, but as educators we often feel that it is necessary to call on that student in the class who didn't raise their hand. Why do we feel that it is necessary to push individuals out of their comfort zone to prove they are paying attention? These are sometimes the students who are struggling, but is embarrassing the right approach? Sometimes these students have the highest test scores and the most articulate writing. These skills should be praised and nurtured, not squashed as weird or socially unacceptable. Perhaps if we taught students that thinking before before answering is a virtue we would have a very different culture. I have put Susan Cain's new book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking on my to read list. Pannapacker notes: "We now live under a kind of extrovert tyranny, Cain writes, and that has led to a culture of shallow thinking, compulsory optimism, and escalating risk-taking in pursuit of success, narrowly defined." The pull of academic life for me, as for some others, is the idea that not only can we, but we should be, thinking and questioning at a deeper level. Being a distance graduate student the isolation however, can be profound, for while I enjoy time to think and research, it is through the interactions of others that new concepts often coalesce and conclusions take form. Pannapacker makes an interesting observation about this issue:

Many people are drawn to academic life because they expect it will provide a refuge from the social demands of other careers: They believe one can be valued as a studious introvert, as many undergraduates are. But academe is a profession of opposites. Long periods of social isolation—research and writing—are punctuated by brief periods of intense social engagement: job interviews, teaching, conferences, and meetings. One reason that completion rates for graduate programs are so low—and unhappiness levels so high—is, I suspect, because students are not selected for the full range of aptitudes they will need to be successful in graduate school. And there are few if any supports in place for those students who struggle with the extremes of introversion and extroversion that academe demands.

Social interactions are a valuable and necessary part of the graduate experience. Attending conferences, giving presentations, qualitative interviewing, and other experiences have pushed me outside my comfort zone, for good or ill. It is not a negative thing to push yourself and to experience new things, but the lack of a support structure in these instances can lead to fear, failure, and in the end, the decision to not continue. I struggle with finding a design for my dissertation that does not put me in a position I am not comfortable with. I know this is not a good thing, but how good of a dissertation can I do if the very nature of it terrifies me? This is an issue I struggle with. Oh to be an extrovert, but then would I have the ideas that I have? How many great ideas have been lost because of the culture of extroversion that pervades all levels of our society? This is not to say the extrovert does not have a place in graduate education, for their ability to reach people is vital, but a little more contemplation can't hurt.